One walks down a long, dark and dusty wooden boardwalk to reach Kate DeBuse\u2019s horse stall. DeBuse\u2019s horse, a 22-year-old paso fino named Sweetie, lives in the 12th stall on the west side of the Fairweather Barn in Juneau. There\u2019s 28 stalls in total in the aged wooden shelter off Industrial Boulevard \u2014 14 on either side of an indoor riding arena.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the spot where DeBuse has begun and ended countless rides with Sweetie to the Mendenhall Wetlands or Brotherhood Bridge Trail. In recent years though, DeBuse has shifted her focus from trail riding in Alaska to show riding in Washington and Oregon.<\/p>\n
Last year, the 14-year-old freshman at Juneau-Douglas High School won the State of Oregon\/Washington Tennessee Walking Horse Youth Championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cKate\u2019s grown up around horses and she has always just had a big interest and love of horses,\u201d Kate\u2019s mom Theresa Shanley said.<\/p>\n
DeBuse has trained with her paso fino, Sweetie, since she was just 8. Her family purchased a Tennessee Walking Horse named Lucille three years ago. Since then, DeBuse has shown Lucille at different shows across Oregon and Washington in the summertime. In order to win the youth championship, DeBuse had to accumulate the most points in a series of summer shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t really show our horses down here too much besides the thoroughbred, but he\u2019s kind getting a little older,\u201d Kate said, referring to her sister Lauren\u2019s horse Dusty. \u201cSo it was really cool to just go down there and see all the horses.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeBuse began visiting trainer Frank White\u2019s farm in Lebanon, Oregon, a couple years ago at the invitation of former Juneauite Rebecca Easton. Easton purchased a Tennessee Walking Horse from White and allowed Kate to ride her from time to time.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually I was like, \u2018Wow, yeah, I really like doing this,\u2019 so I got Lucille, which is my own Tennessee Walker,\u201d DeBuse said.<\/p>\n
White made history as the first African-American to win a Tennessee Walking Horse World Championship in 1993. White fast-tracked both DeBuse and Easton\u2019s riding skills with the unique breed of horses. White noted Kate\u2019s ability to develop a strong bond with horses, in an April email to the Empire.<\/p>\n
\u201cKate is a natural when it comes to riding, and she communicates what she had learned to the horse in a very gentle way,\u201d White said. \u201cKate and her mare have mutual respect and trust for each other which has taken them to the winner\u2019s circle.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeBuse\u2019s mother Theresa Shanley said the shows in Oregon and Washington for the Tennessee Walkers were a brand new experience for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cTennessee Walker showing is totally different than, say, the horse shows we have in Juneau or in Whitehorse where there\u2019s all-breed shows doing walk, trot, cantor,\u201d Shanley said. \u201cTennessee Walkers kind of have their own gait, so they don\u2019t really compete in those shows.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s only a small contingent of youth involved in horse riding in Juneau, but that has never stopped DeBuse from riding. She has been riding her sister\u2019s horse Dusty since she was 6.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she first started riding by herself, she would try him to get him to go and she would kick and kick and kick,\u201d Shanley said. \u201cHer little legs were like a third of the way down his side. (Dusty) would just stand there and look at her. She\u2019d get super frustrated but then \u2026 she finally learned it\u2019s really kind of psychological thing, you just have to will them to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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\u2022 Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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